#koreanmarch

Brief book review time! So I’d be lying if I said this gorgeous cover didn’t draw me in initially. But Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, lived up to the stark beauty of its wrapping, though not in the way you’d expect. It’s effect is far subtler than that. Kim Jiyoung is a young woman with a husband and little girl who suddenly begins behaving oddly, speaking in the voices of other women in her life or in the lives of those close to her with seemingly no awareness of having done so. The narrative begins there, then goes back to trace the life of this young Korean woman as she grows up and experiences the death by a thousand cuts that is the casual misogyny of her culture. This book was galvanizing for the South Korean feminist movement, and it supports its narrative with use of footnotes from studies on gender discrimination and women’s roles in South Korea. The very ending will piss you off, in a good and effective way. Despite the misogynistic culture Jiyoung contends with, I love that the women are written as strong and complex, and many of the men in their lives are truly kind and sympathetic. Even the “good” guys make assumptions about gender roles from time to time, and Jiyoung feels guilty for making the path for other women employees harder by working so hard while pregnant. From privileged brothers to school bullies, from predatory boys and teachers to discriminatory bosses, this book shows why feminism is essential for all cultures where misogyny exists, including my own. I wish I’d gotten more Korean books to read for #koreanmarch - if you have suggestions, drop them in the comments! Also tell me what you thought of this book if you’ve read it! #koreanliterature #koreanbooks #feminism #chonamjoo #korea #southkorea #bookstagram #instabooks #bookcovers #bookreviews #books #ilovereading #bookshelf #womenauthors #feministauthors #intersectionalfeminism #instabooks #bookrecommendations https://www.instagram.com/p/CbfRM0XO-VK/?utm_medium=tumblr

Lee Min-Jin; Panchinko

I'll Go On, tells the story of two sisters Nana and Sora and their friend Naghi Oraboni. Both Nana and Sora (and their mother, Aeja) moved into a shared apartment with Naghi and his mother, Sunja (whom they refer later to as Sunja Ajumoni). Nana, Sora and Naghi has a similar life: three of them lost their father when they're still young. Nana and Sora's father died in an industrial accident when they were so young. Meanwhile, Naghi's father also died, of a sudden stroke while working. The story continues with Sora and her dream. She has a conception dream but she has no sex fot a year. So, she suspects that the dreams relates to her sister Nana. And Nana indeed turns out to be pregnant with her co-worker Moseh. The narrative of this novel is told in three sections. Sora, Nana and Naghi narrate their own stories in turn. Their stories later reveal the kinship between the sisters, their relationship with Naghi. Sora and Nana also reach an agreement related Nana's pregnancy. One thing should be highlited: all of their stories are basically an echo of their childhood experiences and things they have been through when growing up which later influence their lives as adults. I found out that the book is mediocore. I found it disappointing in terms of plot, too many "convo" among the characters that overlaps each other and the lack of depth in those stories leave some aspects of the theme the author wants to rise unexplored. I don't know whether it's because of the translation - like the essence of those sentences is MIA during the translation or simply just the story. Yet I always admire Tilted Axis for being so generous in enriching the world literature. Terima kasih, Tilted Axis! 🙏 PS: the book was a gift from my wonderful darling @namakurhea. ❤ This is also a prolongation of #KoreanMarch by my wonderful @danchireads BOOK 9: I'LL GO ON by HWANG JUNGEUN for my #ReadTiltedAxis Month Translated by: Emily Yae Won 📍 South Korea Published by @tiltedaxisbooks/ @tiltedaxispress (at Desca's Library) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNf-sWuLu5W/?igshid=1dlqmoxdautq9

I am very happy with my #marchwrapup stack! Most of the volume comes from the 24 in 48 Social Distancing Readathon, iin my house also known as the Mom Goes Crazy Because Her Every Waking Thought For A Week Has Been About COVID-19 or COVID-homeschooling, Now Please Everyone Go Away And Be Quiet So I Can Do Nothing But Read For Two Days Readathon. . . Let’s stick with the first name. It’s both shorter and catchier. . . Anyway, there is a lot of #koreanmarch in this stack, plus a lot of blasting through the stack of what I have out from the library. Like for most of you, my local branch is closed, and I am not actually sure if I should be dropping these off as I finish them? Or wait until they open again? I have no idea. I also read three books of poetry last month, which I am VERY happy about, plus finished reading Sabriel to the kids for bedtime story, and read Spirit Animals at the insistence of my youngest (meh, but I can see why he was excited about it.) . . . My favorites this month: BABY X by Rebecca Ann Smith UNCOMFORTABLY HAPPY by Yeon-Sik Hong RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE by Casey McQuiston . . DUDS: KOREA by Simon Winchester (SO DATED) THE MASTER AND MARGARITA graphic novel adaptation (lost almost everything I loved most about the novel.) . . #whaleandvapor #kimkyungju #gutbotany #petrakuppers #thenineclouddream #kimmanjung #korea #simonwinchester #sabriel #garthnix #babyx #rebeccaannsmith #spiritanimalswildborn #uncomfortablyhappy #yeonsikhong #redwhiteandroyalblue #caseymcquiston #kryslee #howibecameanorthkorean #theplotters #unsukim #themasterandmargarita #theoctopusmuseum #iknowwhatiam #ginasiciliano https://www.instagram.com/p/B-csEg9glfO/?igshid=h37slb9d44xl

For a lot of reasons (mostly COVID-schooling), I haven’t been on Instagram much lately. But I just couldn’t miss doing a #koreanmarch roundup of the books I read during the 24 in 48 readathon the weekend before last. Originally I had planned to give each book its own post over last week, but that CLEARLY did not happen, so here we go with four mini-reviews! . . KOREA by Simon Winchester was an impulse used-book buy back when I was first learning Korean. I knew nothing about this book. Part of it was just what I wanted — an outsider’s view of Korea. The landscape, the people, the different regions, a little history. BUT. The entire thing was shot through with SO MUCH colonialism and sexism and occasional exoticism that I sometimes wanted to strangle him. Definitely not writing for today’s reader. I kept having to remind myself to READ THIS AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, and even then I had to go rant to my husband every now and then. I am glad I read it, because I definitely learned some things that had previously mystified me, but I am still mad about it. . . WHALE AND VAPOR is a book of translated poetry. I love the quote on the back: “You’ve got to make peace with my chaos. It’s a chaos no one understands.” Many of the poems moved me emotionally in ways I couldn’t explain narratively. Exhaustion isn’t named explicitly but it is everywhere in these poems. Making for good COVID reading? . . HOW I BECAME A NORTH KOREAN gave me a lot of feelings. Sometimes it verged on book club trauma porn, but at the same time it felt so plausible, and Lee has the cred to probably know what she is talking about. I had a lot of fury, reading this, mostly at “Christian” missionaries “helping” North Korean refugees in China — but the west and our infinite desire for trauma porn is definitely implicated, too. A difficult book, probably a good pick for book clubs, actually. . . UNCOMFORTABLY HAPPY won me over completely. Listen, it is very long and sometimes slow, but in a way that serves the story it is telling. A young married couple moves out to the country to save money and distractions while they work on their graphic novel projects, and end up more isolated than they expected. ... https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XpYJ-AI63/?igshid=19kdjvprd9sf3

Late night (bad light) wrapup for the #stayhome24in48 readathon. I finished my last book with just 6 minutes shy of 24 hours of reading, and decided to take a break and rot my brain with more passive entertainment, but not before doing a #readathonwrapup. I finished eight books! Which is lovely. Three graphic novels, two books of poetry, one non-fiction essay/travel/history and two novels. Half of my books could count for #koreanmarch. Some books I LOVED (Baby X, Uncomfortably Happy, I Know What I Am), some books I took breaks to rant to my husband and children about (Korea, the graphic novel adaptation of The Master and Margarita), and some I am still pondering. Overall, I am very pleased with my stack, but really what I am most pleased with is my husband and kids pitching in so that I could do (almost) nothing but eat, read, and sleep all weekend after feeling my entire brain was hijacked with COVID homeschooling this week. . . This readathon was lovely and just what I needed. Thank you to @24in48! . . #readathon #24in48 #bookstack #babyx #rebeccaannsmith #mothersmilkbooks #korea #simonwinchester #whaleandvapor #kimkyungju #uncomfortablyhappy #yeonsikhong #howibecameanorthkorean #kryslee #themastersndmargarita #mikhailbulgakov #theoctopusmuseum #brendashaughnessy #iknowwhatiam #ginasiciliano #hellenjo #jakelevine #blackoceanpress https://www.instagram.com/p/B-D0k8hgnF9/?igshid=1munifc3fg705

My #24in48 TBR! Honestly this pile stresses me out a little. Not because it is so big (I like to make towering readathon TBRs so that I have lots of choices) but because I put almost no thought into it. Sudden homeschooling at all of my brain this week, but I am determined to lay claim to this weekend for reading! I threw this stack together very quickly last night and didn’t think much about it at all. . . As you can see, most of the stack is for #koreanmarch, but I have a few library books that I had checked out before it closed that I should read, and a few of my books from recent orders in the pile as well. Honestly, it’s probably a pretty good readathon TBR, so I should stop worrying about it. . . #readathon #readathontbr #bookstack #bookdragon #readallthebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/B9_uF3Wg5JA/?igshid=vbwrzclqrst7

I had checked this out at the library when I did my sweep through for #koreanmarch, grabbing every book from a Korean author I could find. To be honest, I didn’t really expect to get to this one, as I had never heard of it and its status as a seventeenth-century classic made me suspect it might be dry and less interesting than some of the modern books. BUT, then I read the post by @end.notes and immediately moved this book to the top of my stack. . . Dry is the last thing this book is. A young Buddhist monk sways from his path and as consequence is sent to Hell to be reincarnated, as are the eight fairies who brought about his temptation. Reborn, they are all incredibly beautiful and epically talented (literally epically, their various talents are constantly being compared to legends of poetry, music, beauty, and wisdom in Chinese history, and generally coming out favorably.) The whole thing doesn’t seem like much of a punishment or lesson until you realize that it is all a commentary on the nature of reality, the three paths of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and Korean politics of the day. . . Without those perspectives (which the Introduction does a lot of work to establish), it can simply be read as a charming fairy tale, a vision of an idealized epoch of wise leaders and gracious women. . . As an important text in Korean culture, it can also shine some light on modern Korean literature and other arts. It connected some dots for me on things that had mystified me in k-dramas. I am glad that @end.notes recommended this, and that I read it! . . #koreanliterature #translatedfiction #thenineclouddream #kimmanjung #heinzinsufenkl #penguinclassics https://www.instagram.com/p/B92DbxgA_dY/?igshid=pl2vg50mjb1x